


Fifty Steps At A Time

by DarchangelSkye



Category: A Chorus Line - Hamlisch/Klebin/Kirkwood & Dante
Genre: 1 Sentence Fiction, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, Asian-American Character, Broadway, Canon Character of Color, Canon Gay Character, Canon Jewish Character, Canon Queer Character of Color, Character Development, Character Study, Community: 1fandom, Cross-Posted on deviantArt, Dancing, Divorce, Drug Use, Female Character of Color, Female Jewish Character, Gen, Headcanon, Hospital, Infidelity, Latino Character, Memories, New York City, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, Racism, Rain, Theatre, auditions, broken home
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-09-30
Updated: 2011-09-30
Packaged: 2017-10-24 04:33:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/259051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarchangelSkye/pseuds/DarchangelSkye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Character studies for 1fandom.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fifty Steps At A Time

**Author's Note:**

> Resources: one-quarter the libretto, one-quarter [The Line Online character guides](http://www.angelfire.com/musicals/acl/information/characterguides.html), one-quarter self-made concordance of 32 years of American history timeline, one-quarter imagination :)

**general**  
DREAD: "Please don't let him call on me first, pleasepleaseplease..."  
*  
WAR: Being born as one battle drew to a close, and growing up and dancing as a new revolution grew in the streets crossed minds more often than not.  
*  
CLOCK: Day by day, week after week, one year to the next, every lucky break and every rejection, and the ticking hands become torture.  
SOON: OK, so not this show, but there'd be another one coming up...right?

 **AL & KRISTINE**  
LOST: "Um...oh dear," was Kristine's squeaked reaction upon the realization she had taken the totally wrong turn to be nowhere _near_ the Footlights Club.  
*  
PACT: "Either _both_ of us gets this show, or neither of us does."  
*  
SHRINE: "Honey, I don't need you to worship me, just..." "...accept you?"

 **BARBARA**  
FAIR: "Out before I even get started?!"

 **BEBE**  
DEEP: Two flights, three, the staircase was purposely built at an impossible angle to seperate those who can from can't right away, and over and over she chants to herself, "I can, I can, I can."  
*  
DRINK: The bottle or line never cares how you look.  
UGLY: Enough of a daze, and Bebe's high as a kite enough to actually feel a little glamorous.  
*  
FALLEN: Deep down inside, she knew the _real_ reason why she couldn't think of anything to do besides dance- if she had something to fall back on, she'd fall and never get up.

 **BOBBY**  
LOW: "Darn, cut another one down to size, didn't I?"  
*  
DEED: Mayyyybe Zach didn't hide anything in the contract about owning their souls, but given their history, it didn't hurt to read this a little more carefully.  
*  
CELL: "I mean, all those reports about that new blood disease, even the clubs aren't safe anymore, just- be careful, Greg, OK?"

 **CASSIE**  
WINTER: At first there were only fleeting moments out on the coast when Cassie would wonder how Zach was faring back in the cold and blustery Big Apple.  
RAIN: And then the odd raindrop would touch the palm trees, and while the other wannabe starlets bemoaned their ruined hair, she'd remember every offered umbrella and the chill of the night she left.

 **CONNIE**  
DUST: Fewer attention was paid to Chinatown then than now, meaning homes and businesses would have the thin layer of grime and neglect difficult to wash away, and even at a young age Connie knew she was meant for better than that.  
*  
MORTAL: It wasn't just vanity to hide her age- the younger she could come off as, the more time she'd have to perform, after all, nobody lived forever.

 **DIANA**  
DOOR: Until Papi tugs on her arm to keep her walking, Diana stares with awe at the tall gaggle of women that have just poured into the alley by the theater, awash in feathers and silken shoes and frosted lips.

 **DON**  
ROAD: It was either his imagination, or the rest of traffic really moved out of the way like for a queen as the Cadillac flew down the streets.  
BURN: Years later Lola's hair of all things would still haunt him, a burning copper too brilliant to be found in nature.

 **GREG**  
CLOSET: "At least when I come out, you _know_ it's going to be in style!"

 **JUDY**  
LURE: Yeah, Sheila was right, who didn't want to be a star; even if chasing the (hollow, gold-plated) carrot led to disappointment more often than not.

 **LARRY**  
WAIT: It was still a little bit before Dr. Rhodes could see Paul, so while he took up several waiting room chairs with the leg propped on cushions, Larry did what any decent person would do and waited with the kid.  
TENSE: The decor's sterile whites made the tension even worse, and he couldn't help but wonder if that was on purpose.  
SUDDEN: After a silence punctuated by breathing and the occasional intercom message, he suddenly spoke up.  
PLACE: "If it helps any...this was never my favorite place in the world to be, either."

 **MAGGIE**  
UNKNOWN: Maggie never knew anything about her father for years, not even what he looked like- nobody talked (except to say how fortunate she was to have gotten her mother's looks) and every photo had disappeared.  
IRONY: Later in life she'd hear about children who were born solely to save a terminally ill sibling, and it wasn't hard to think of her parents' marriage in the same way- not that her arrival did any good.  
BROKEN: Well, even if she failed at keeping her family together, no way she was going to fail at being the best dancer.

 **MARK**  
OCEAN: "Honey, you're going to empty the whole Pacific if you keep drinking that much; are you sure you're all right?"

 **MIKE**  
FAST: Kick, spin, step, flash; speed like a whip that leaves multiple blurs in the mirrors.  
FLIGHT: Feet leave the ground, and for one brief moment gravity doesn't even exist.

 **PAUL**  
FLASH: Paul had never believed anyone's life could flash before their eyes until that slip that seemed to last an agonizing eternity.  
KNOT: Diana would later visit him in the hospital, and they both knew they were only smiling to hide the knots in their stomachs when she hold him she got the job.  
WEEP: It's only after she leaves that he clenches his fists and lets the tears fall again.  
WELL: At least, he reflected later when he wasn't so groggy from the surgery, it was a nice gesture for most of the line to leave their names in a tiny card propped on the bedside table.  
BLIND: (That had to be the earmarks of Diana's work, she may have a tough exterior, but could still see when someone she really cared about needed a lift.)

 **RICHIE**  
BLACK: "We know there's only one reason you got that scholarship, _boy_ ," the jock mutters as he passes Richie in the hall, and he feels a shudder down his spine.  
TOKEN: Somehow he'd be reminded of it years later at his first auditions, and the majority of every chorus was mysteriously white-washed.

 **SHEILA**  
WORDS: Even in the days when it was considered improper to whisper such words aloud, Sheila could at least mention off-hand how her father's infidelity made her feel.  
VANISH: "I ask you, do you know what it's like yo have your childhood disappear before you even get to have one?"  
WHY: Once in her teens, she tried asking her mother why she had stayed married if Father obviously didn't care about either of them- and the wounded look in return said everything and nothing.

 **VAL**  
STORM: Downpour or no downpour, Louella Heimer was getting her parade no matter what, even if the queen got a shield while the lowly subjects got nothing.  
SKY: The wet baton slips from Val's grip and whaps her forehead, and for the thousandth time in her life she looks up and silently curses whoever the hell it was up there that gave her _this_ kind of life.  
*  
REAL: Her family, her hair, half her body, even her _name_ were just cheap, manufactured substitutes.  
THREE: What right did that other girl have to complain about being ugly; Val doubted she'd ever had it put in big black numbers how she wasn't good enough.

 **ZACH**  
VILLAIN: It wasn't that Zach was a bad guy, for what it was worth...  
HARD: ...years of needing to do the best damn job he could had just taught him to keep a stone, neutral face and never let his guard down...until now.


End file.
